Golf carts are typically open-sided vehicles having a solid roof. The open sides are useful to allow for easy entrance and exit to the vehicle during use, but do not provide any protection to the occupants during inclement weather. Various doors and screens have been proposed for the sides and back of golf carts and other similar vehicles, but such solutions have not proven to be satisfactory to date. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,609 to Mills et al. proposes a shade assembly that may be mounted to the side of a golf cart. The shade assembly is opaque, which reduces the visibility afforded to the occupants of the cart. In addition, the Mills shade is designed to be permanently secured to the roof support members, which reduces the height of the side opening of the cart, causing difficulties to the occupants in entering and exiting the cart. Furthermore, although the shade may be wound onto its mounting rod for storage, the winding operation is time consuming and the shade is designed to be folded back and secured upon itself to allow entry and exit. Yet further, the shade does not extend fully to the front and back roof support members, allowing rain to enter the cart around the sides of the shade.
Roller blinds are well known, and their use in golf carts has been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,826 to Upton proposes a temporary windshield for golf carts that includes a flexible transparent sheet that is rolled onto a constant tension roller. The windshield may be unrolled when needed, and the lower edge of the material may be secured to the vehicle by fasteners, such as twist-top fasteners. The roller assembly is located within a housing that is mounted to the roof of the golf cart using brackets.
Such prior art screens typically involve some modification to the vehicle to allow for their mounting, such as the attachment of a permanent support bracket to the vehicle roof supports. This is not beneficial in many instances as it may reduce the resale value of the vehicle, and means that the screen is typically permanently in place, even during periods when inclement weather is not expected. It may also mean that retrofitting existing vehicles is difficult to accomplish. In addition, the weather screen, when mounted to the vehicle, tends to reduce the open area available at the vehicle side, which may make entering or exiting the vehicle more difficult.
Thus, there exists a need for a weather guard for an open-sided vehicle that may easily be mounted to the vehicle and that does not require modification to the vehicle frame.